Welcome to Portland, Donovan Clingan!

wut? you're gauging by playoff "dominance"? That's not just moving goal posts, it's loading them in a cargo plane and dropping them off in Timbuktu...at night...after drinking everclear. Nobody ever said Gobert was a dominant playoff presence; just that he's been solid and impactful

try this: In Gobert's 82 game playoff career, his PER is 18.6 and winshare/48 is 1.71; those are better than any Blazer last season (other than Timelord). Gobert has averaged 12 & 11 in the playoffs. And he's altered a lot of opponent shots. While he's not Wilt or Hakeem or Duncan, that doesn't mean that Clingan can't be like Gobert

 

I agree. I also agree with the statement you made earlier about the center position.
I certainly hope Clingan can get as good as Gobert. That would really be awesome.

 

Pretty widely accepted that he doesn’t match well against teams in the playoffs.
If Clingan can give half of what he brings in the regular season I’m good with that.
The point of the original post was that the Blazers should look to help themselves at the center position.
Maybe you don’t agree with that?

 

"widely accepted" by who?

Clippers 2017 (injured & missed 2 games; avg 8-7)
Warriors 2017 (avg 16-13)
OKC 2018 (avg 14-11)
Houston 2018 (avg 12-10)
Houston 2019 (avg 11-10)
Denver 2020 (avg 17-11)
Memphis 2021 (avg 17-13)
Clippers 2021 (avg 13-12)
Dallas 2022 (avg 12-13)
Denver 2023 (avg 15-12)
Phoenix 2024 (avg 15-11)
Denver 2024 (avg 10-11)
Dallas 2024 (avg 12-8)
Lakers 2025 (avg 8-10)
Warriors 2025 (avg 10-9)
OKC 2025 (avg 5-6)

for 12 straight playoff series over an 8 year stretch he averaged a double-double. He averaged 17 points twice and 13 rebounds twice. Yes, he appears to be slowing down based upon the small sample size of the OKC series and the earlier series this season, but he's essentially 33. There are 12 years separating where Gobert is and where Clingan is

bluntly speaking, the notion that Gobert has ever been 'played of the floor' in the playoffs is myth. There might have been a game, here or there, where his matchup was bad and he was replaces for a quarter. But over the course of 15 playoff series in 9 years, no team has forced him to the bench.

I would agree it's probably fair to question the Clingan-->Gobert comp at this point. Gobert is a 4 time DPOY. That's elite talent

 

At this point, I’d say that it’s less of a comparison than an aspiration. Donovan has the size, rebounding and shot blocking instincts that make it a reasonable thing for him to build his game in Gobert’s model.

 

Im more concerned about Shaedons three and the teams overall shooting, then Clingans game right now. If Shae wants to be an all star in this league he better become a more consistent shooter. He's going into his 4th year and this team is still one of the worse shooting teams in the league.

 

Man some of you sure don’t know what letting the cake bake looks like… calling him a career backup when he only just finished his rookie season. I think he will continue to grow as a player as he matures into a grown man. What is he 20? Give the kid some time to learn the pro game and get another year or two of NBA weight training and professional recovery treatment.

Really don’t get the doom and gloom chicken little bs around here.

 

Not taking as many stupid 3's as he does would be a good start, being selective would be nice to see, no reason he can't learn that if he wants to

 

We will soon find out....